Optional features offered by Microsoft to users of the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista
Windows Ultimate Extras were optional features offered byMicrosoft to users of theUltimate edition ofWindows Vista and were accessible viaWindows Update. Ultimate Extras replaced the market role ofMicrosoft Plus!, a product sold for prior consumer releases ofMicrosoft Windows.[1] According to Microsoft's Barry Goffe, the company's goal with Ultimate Extras was to delight customers who purchased the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista, the most expensive retail edition of the operating system.[2]
Windows Ultimate Extras were discontinued with the release ofWindows 7[3] and all installed extras were removed during an upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7.[4][5]
TheBitLocker Drive Preparation Tool utility and the Secure Online Key Backup utility were among the first Ultimate Extras to be made available, and were released to coincide with thegeneral retail availability of Windows Vista.[6][7][8] BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool prepares the hard drive to be encrypted with BitLocker,[9] whereas Secure Online Key Backup enabled users to create anoff-sitebackup of their BitLocker recovery password andEncrypting File System recovery certificates at Digital Locker, as part of theWindows Marketplacedigital distribution platform.[10] Secure Online Key Backup was rendered inoperable after Digital Locker shut down in August 2009.[11][12]
Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows Vista is language-independent; the language architecture separates the language resources for the user interface from the binary code of the operating system.[13] Support for installing additional languages is included in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.[14] In the Ultimate edition, the functionality is made available through Windows Update as Ultimate Extras.[15]
Microsoft stated that 16 languages were made available on January 30, 2007.[16] The company released the remaining language packs on October 23, 2007 for a total of 35 language packs.[17] An additional 36th language pack version is available for Windows Vista that supportstraditional Chinese characters with theHong Kong Supplementary Character Set.[18]
Microsoft Tinker is apuzzle game made available on September 23, 2008 where players must navigate arobot through mazes and obstacles. A total of 60 levels are included, and players can create their own levels with alevel editor.[19][20]
Hold 'Em (formerlyWindows Poker as in build 5284) is apokercard game released on January 29, 2007[7] that is fundamentally similar toTexas hold 'em.[1][21]Hold 'Em allows users to play against up to five computer players and up to three levels of difficulty, and also allows users to customize aspects of the game's appearance;[1] the game relies onDirectX to produce hardware-accelerated 3D animations and effects.[22] For optimal performance,Hold 'Em requires a computer with aWindows Experience Index rating of 2.0 or higher.[7]
According to Paul Thurrott,Hold 'Em was originally intended to be bundled alongside the premium games—Chess Titans,Mahjong Titans, andInkBall—included by default with the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista, but was instead made an Ultimate Extra because of its gambling themes.[1]
A total of three sound schemes for Windows Vista were released: Ultimate Extras Glass, Ultimate Extras Pearl, and Microsoft Tinker. The first two were made available on April 22, 2008,[23] while the latter was made available on September 23, 2008 to coincide with the release ofMicrosoft Tinker.[20] TheGlass andPearl sound schemes are similar to theDefault sound scheme included in Windows Vista as they were also developed in accordance with theWindows Aerographical user interface.[24][25]
Windows DreamScene enablesMPEG andWMV videos to be displayed as desktop backgrounds. Windows Aero must be enabled for Windows DreamScene due to requiring theDesktop Window Manager to display videos on the desktop.[26]
Despite not being considered Windows Ultimate Extras, the Windows Ultimate Extras team additionally released two wallpapers (Start andStrands) based on the Windows Vista Ultimate retail packaging and intended for Windows Vista Ultimate users; the wallpapers were made available in three differentdisplay resolutions.[30][31]
Reaction to Windows Ultimate Extras was mixed. While Microsoft was praised for creating a value proposition for users who purchased the most expensive edition of Windows Vista, the company was criticized for its delays during delivery of updates,[32][33] perceived lack of quality of delivered updates,[33][34][35] and a lack of transparency regarding their development.[28][36] Early on, there were concerns that the features would not live up to users' expectations.[28] The company announced several Ultimate Extras in January 2007, but only a fraction of these were released five months later.[37] After months without an official update since January, Microsoft released an apology for the delays, stating that it intended to ship the remaining features before the end of summer of 2007.[37] The delays between consecutive updates and months of silence had led to speculation that the development team within the company responsible for the features had been quietly disbanded.[36]
When Microsoft announced its intentions to release the remaining Ultimate Extras and released an apology for delays, Paul Thurrott stated that the company had "dropped the ball" with the features.[37]Ed Bott wrote that Ultimate Extras were "probably the biggest mistake Microsoft made with Vista," and that the company would downplay the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 as a result.[12] Bott would later list them among his "decade's worth of Windows mistakes."[38]
Microsoft was also criticized for changing the description for Ultimate Extras within the operating system. The offerings slated to be made available were initially described as "cutting-edge programs," "innovative services," and "unique publications," but the description for the features within theControl Panel applet was later modified in Windows VistaService Pack 1 to be more modest; this was interpreted as an attempt made by the company to avoid fulfilling prior expectations.[12][39][40]
Emil Protalinski ofArs Technica wrote that the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista "would have looked just fine without the joke that is 'Ultimate Extras'" and that the features were supposed to provide an incentive for consumers to purchase that edition, "not give critics something to point and laugh at."[41] In the second part of his review of Windows 7, Peter Bright ofArs Technica wrote that "the value proposition of the Ultimate Extras was nothing short of piss-poor."[42] Bright would later criticize Microsoft's decision not to releaseInternet Explorer 10 for Windows Vista, but would go on to state that this was still "not as bad as the Ultimate Extras farce."[43]
^abcdPaul Thurrott (October 6, 2010)."Windows Ultimate Extras Review".Supersite for Windows.Penton. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. RetrievedMay 28, 2015.
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